Aslan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Narnia character | |
 Aslan in promotional artwork from the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. |
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| Aslan | |
|---|---|
| Race/Nation | Talking Beast / Aslan's Country |
| Gender | Male |
| Birthplace | Aslan's Country |
| Major character in | |
| The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | |
| Prince Caspian | |
| The Voyage of the Dawn Treader | |
| The Horse and His Boy | |
| The Silver Chair | |
| The Magician's Nephew | |
| The Last Battle | |
| Portrayals in Adaptations | |
| 1998-90 BBC miniseries: Ronald Pickup (voice) 2005-08 Disney film series: Liam Neeson (voice)[1] |
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Aslan, the "Greatest Lion," is the central character in The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of seven fantasy novels for children written by C. S. Lewis. He is the lion of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and his role in Narnia is developed throughout the remaining books. He is also the only character to appear in every book of the series.
He is a talking lion, King of the Beasts, son of the Emperor-Over-the-Sea; a wise, compassionate, magical authority (both temporal and spiritual); mysterious and beloved guide to the human children who visit; guardian and saviour of Narnia; and ultimately revealed as its creator and destroyer.
Aslan is a Turkish word meaning lion. Lewis came up with the name when was on a trip to the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey), where he was impressed with the Sultan's elite guards also called Aslan because of their bravery and loyalty.
Throughout the series, it is often repeated that Aslan is "not a tame lion", since, despite his gentle and loving nature, he is powerful and can be dangerous. He has many followers, which include a plethora of Talking Beasts, Centaurs, Fauns, Dryads, Dwarfs, Satyrs, Naiads, Hamadryads, Silvans, Unicorns, and Winged Horses. Lewis often capitalises the word Lion, to convey the reverence the characters feel toward him.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] In The Magician's Nephew
(This is the first story in the chronology of Narnia, and of its human visitors, but the sixth tale Lewis wrote, and for many readers it is not the first meeting with the character.)
Aslan makes his first appearance at the creation of Narnia. When Digory, Polly, Jadis, Uncle Andrew, Frank, and Strawberry inadvertently enter a new world using magic rings, they find it an empty void. Aslan appears, and through the power of his singing, calls the world of Narnia into existence.
While all the characters immediately feel awe for Aslan, Jadis expresses this as fear and hatred, and unsuccessfully assaults Aslan with an iron bar before fleeing. Aslan is unperturbed, and continues calling plants and animals into existence. The power of his song is so great that even the iron bar, dropped on fertile earth, grows into a functioning lamp post, and toffees sprout into fruit trees.
Aslan then chooses certain animals, a couple from each species, and gives them the power of speech and reason. He instructs them to look after the dumb animals. He appoints Frank to be King of Narnia, and brings his wife Helen to Narnia from Earth to be Queen.
Aslan explains that Jadis will pose a great threat to the Narnians, and charges Digory and Polly with a quest to acquire a magic fruit to protect the land. He turns the horse Strawberry into a winged horse. When the quest is complete, he crowns Frank and Helen, and advises Digory on how to care for his sick mother.
At the end of the novel, he takes Digory, Polly and Uncle Andrew back to the Wood between the Worlds, without the use of magic rings, and warns them that their Earth is in danger of a similar fate to the dead world Charn.
[edit] In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
(This is the second Narnia story chronologically, but the first one Lewis wrote, and for many readers was the first appearance of Aslan.)
With Narnia in thrall to the White Witch and her unending winter, all the Narnians are eagerly anticipating the return of Aslan. 'Aslan is coming' is repeated, in fearful secrecy, as a message of hope. The Witch turns those who say this in her presence into stone. The Narnians expect Aslan to bring an end to the White Witch's tyrannical reign.
The four human children are led to Aslan, but before they set off Edmund leaves to betray them to the White Witch. The children find Aslan leading a large gathering of Narnians who are preparing for war. Aslan sends Peter and some other Narnians to attack the Witch and her small entourage, during which they rescue Edmund. Aslan makes Peter a knight.
The White Witch reappears and claims from Aslan the right to execute Edmund as a traitor, due to Deep Magic from the Dawn of Time. Aslan offers that the Witch might execute him in Edmund's place, and she accepts. On the Stone Table, as Susan and Lucy watch, the White Witch mocks, abuses, and finally slays Aslan with a knife.
After the Witch leaves with her army to attack the Narnians, Lucy, Susan, and a number of mice remove the bonds from Aslan's body. But as dawn breaks they find that his body is gone, and then Aslan reveals that he is alive once more, thanks to a Deeper Magic from before the Dawn of Time that the witch was not aware of. (Aslan's exact words from chapter 15 do not clearly indicate whether or not it was within the witch's power to see this deeper magic, though they seem to imply that she could not.)
Aslan goes to the Witch's palace, and breathes on the statues of her petrified enemies, bringing them back to life. He leads them all to aid Peter, Edmund and the Narnian army who are fighting the Witch's army. At the conclusion of the battle, he leaps on top of the witch and devours her.
Aslan crowns the four children as Kings and Queens of Narnia, and then disappears.
[edit] In The Horse and his Boy
Aslan is a mostly hidden influence on the life of Prince Cor of Archenland, helping him evade capture by his enemies, and giving him the resolve to persevere and help save Archenland and Narnia from an invading Calormene army.
He was the lion who brought Shasta and Aravis together in their journeys. He also appeared to Shasta in the form of a cat to comfort him at the tombs and he chased Bree and Hwin to give them the speed to reach Archenland in time.
When the army is defeated, Aslan appears and transforms the proud Prince Rabadash into a donkey.
[edit] In Prince Caspian
A thousand Narnian years after the events in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", both Aslan and the Pevensie children have become near-forgotten myths. The children, newly returned to Narnia, find their faith tested as Aslan does not appear to them until they really try to see him.
Aslan's How, a burial mound on the site of the Stone Table, is a gathering point for loyal Narnians, where Prince Caspian forms his army. Meanwhile, Aslan re-awakens the spirits of the forest and the river, leading a Bacchanalian revel though the oppressed towns and fomenting a popular revolution.
When the Telmarines are defeated, Aslan creates a door allowing them to return to Earth. He tells Peter and Susan that they are too old to return to Narnia.
[edit] In Voyage of the Dawn Treader
While Prince Caspian is seeking seven lost mariners, the mouse Reepicheep hopes that their voyage will take them to Aslan's Country in the uttermost East.
On many of the islands where they stop, a brief glimpse of Aslan, or his image, is enough to guide Caspian and his crew away from dangerous folly. When the incalcitrant Eustace is turned into a dragon, Aslan meets with him and pulls the dragon-skin away, leaving him as a human boy and a more pleasant person.
Eventually, Edmund, Lucy, Eustace and Reepicheep reach the world's end, where Aslan appears as a lamb, and shows Reepicheep the way to his country while helping the children return home. He also finally tells Edmund and Lucy they are too old to return to Narnia, as he had told Peter and Susan in Prince Caspian.
[edit] In The Silver Chair
Aslan instructs Jill and Eustace to rescue Prince Rilian, following a series of signs.
He makes no further appearance until the end of the story, but his signs are central to the story, and belief in Aslan plays a crucial part in defeating the Lady of the Green Kirtle, who tries to destroy the children's belief in Narnia.
[edit] In The Last Battle
The ape Shift disguises the reluctant donkey Puzzle as Aslan. They fool the Narnians into thinking Aslan has returned, while issuing commands in his name.
The encroaching Calormenes are encouraged to treat Aslan and their god Tash as a singular being - Tashlan. Dissenters are thrown into Puzzle's stable, supposedly to meet Aslan/Tashlan, so that they can be murdered by Calormene soldiers.
King Tirian, the remaining loyal Narnians, and Jill and Eustace battle the Calormenes and their allies, but are forced through the stable door. They find themselves not in a stable, but in a paradise - Aslan's Country. Aslan is there, and they watch through the stable door as the world of Narnia is destroyed.
Aslan then commands Peter to shut the door on Narnia, and leads them through his country, which is a platonic ideal of Narnia. He greets Emeth, a devout Tash-worshipping Calormene, telling him that 'I and [Tash] are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him.' As they get 'further up and further in', the Narnians find Aslan's country getting bigger and better, eventually encompassing Earth as well.
[edit] Influences
The word aslan is Turkish for "lion" and is used as a title for Ottoman and Seljukid rulers. The theory that the figure of Aslan may have been inspired by a mysterious lion which appears and disappears suddenly at key moments in the novel The Place of the Lion, written by Lewis' close friend Charles Williams, was specifically denied by Lewis in a paper published later in his life.[citation needed]
This powerful "Turkish" delight of a lion is juxtaposed to the weak Turkish delight candy that Edmund eats to his downfall.
[edit] Christian interpretation
Although Aslan can be read as an original character, many readers see parallels with the character and story of Christ. In particular, his sacrifice is reminiscent of the accounts of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection.
According to the author, he is not an allegorical portrayal of Christ, but rather a different, hypothetical, incarnation of Christ himself: 'If Aslan represented the immaterial Deity, he would be an allegorical figure. In reality however he is an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question, What might Christ become like if there really were a world like Narnia and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours? This is not allegory at all.' This interpretation is related to J. R. R. Tolkien's concept of "secondary creation" expounded in his 1947 essay On Fairy-Stories, reflecting discussions Lewis and Tolkien had in the Inklings group.
[edit] Portrayals
- In the animated adaptation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe distributed by the Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop), Aslan is voiced by Stephen Thorne.
- Thorne also makes appearances as the Great Lion in the adaptations made in the mid-1990s by BBC Radio.
- In all three of the BBC television serial adaptations of the late 1980s and early 1990s (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair), Aslan is voiced by Ronald Pickup and the costume is operated by William Todd Jones.
- In the Focus on the Family radio adaptations, he is portrayed by David Suchet.
- In the 2005 film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the CGI Aslan is voiced by Liam Neeson. Neeson will return to voice the character in the sequel, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, scheduled for a 2008 release.[1]
- In Epic Movie, Fred Willard appears as a parody of Aslan. He is a human/lion hybrid known as Aslo. He's constantly drinking and sleeps with anyone who's willing. He helps the heroes get 'Edward' out of the White Queen's dungeon, but he's killed by Silas.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- SparkNotes reference to the meaning of Aslan's death
- "Aslan is still on the move" Christianity Today editorial, 6 August 2001.
- Following Aslan children's explanation of Aslan's parallels with Jesus
